Readers’ gardens
Unlike much of the country, we’ve suffered from a lack of rain. It means I’ve had to water any plants that can't handle the conditions. Even established shrubs have suffered!
I've also been busy planting some new purchases. I'm doing this because the days are getting cooler and it's just as easy to keep them watered in the ground as it is in pots! It was so nice to be able to do something in the garden other than watering.
Either side of our back door we've two lavenders in pots. They've been there for many years and they now have too much old wood to successfully renovate them. I decided to have a bit of a change and ordered two nandina 'Twilight' from the Garden News Shop. They’re beautiful plants and I'm really pleased with the result and, as we have other container-grown nandinas near the house, I know that the conditions will suit them.
My little veg garden has wound down. The greenhouses will be thoroughly cleaned and used for overwintering cuttings and seedlings. I’ve already taken cuttings of lavender, dianthus, Verbena bonariensis and salvias, which are growing on nicely.
Mum-in-law (she's 91) has struck me some penstemons from plants in her small garden. These, together with lupins I've grown from seed, mean that I've got plenty of stock ready to plug any gaps next year. I’ve also grown lots of foxgloves from seed; half have been planted out in our shade border and the other half will go out next spring.
The herbaceous bed has looked a little sorry for itself. The echinops and eryngiums were looking their best, but we had a spell of exceptionally hot weather which left them brown and crisp. I usually leave the seed heads for the birds but they’ve dried up and dropped to the ground! However, all is not lost. I cut a couple of them back to ground level and not only did they produce new shoots, but also a second flush of flowers. The rest are about to get the same treatment!
The wildlife visiting the garden seems to be thriving. Our hedgehog feeding stations are visited nightly and we regularly see one female with two youngsters in tow. We have house sparrows along with various finches and tits trying to eat us out of house and home.
Our greatest joy, however, has been hearing tawny owls calling from our trees at night and, on nice days, looking up and watching groups of buzzards soaring on the thermals right above our garden; their call is so distinctive. It's wonderful when our efforts to garden for wildlife are rewarded.